Hybrid clouds

Hybrid clouds combine the best features of public clouds and private data centers. They allow applications to run in a private data center during normal periods, and then use rented space in a public cloud for overflow capacity during peak traffic periods. There are now a number of infrastructure solutions that allow automatic and consistent deployment across a hybrid cloud, such as Palette and RightScale. With robust offerings from Amazon, Rackspace and others, we are moving hybrid clouds to “Trial” on this edition of the radar.

Hybrid clouds describe a set of patterns that combine the best features of public clouds and private data centers. They allow applications to run in a private data center during normal periods then use rented space in a public cloud for overflow capacity during peak traffic periods. Another way to combine public and private clouds in an agile way is to use the elasticity and malleability of public clouds for developing and understanding an application’s production characteristics, then moving it into permanent infrastructure in a private data center when it is stable.